Seventh Pay Commission: No Increment And Promotion Without Computer Test

New Delhi: The Seventh Pay commission is planning to recommend computer literacy test mandatory for all central government employees to become eligible for annual increments and promotions.

“We are giving importance to Digital India and want to move towards mobile governance, by which good governance will come naturally and there will be transparency and accountability,” once PM Modi said.Pitching for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Digital India Programme, the pay commission is likely to move towards digital governance, which would not only ensure transparency but also bring accountability.

A pay panel official said that technology is needed to empower government employees. “India will not make progress till all government employees have computers knowledge. Computers knowledge will help the all employees in file circulation electronically leading to swift process and speedy decisions.”

He added that the pay panel likely to make passing computer test mandatory for all central government employees below the age of 50 for annual increment.

The official advocated, like the software in a computer needs to be updated, a government employee needs to constantly upskill himself to stay relevant. The skills that proved useful a few years ago may have become outdated now. The employees who are not able to adapt in a changing world are vulnerable. They may have sufficient skills to handle the present, but may not be able to handle the future needs of their office.

Accordingly, the pay panel is planning to advise the government to instruct all its employees to attend the compulsorily update computer training programme for getting promotions.

The Seventh Pay Commission, headed by Justice A K Mathur, was appointed by the previous UPA government in February 2014 and its recommendations are scheduled to take effect from January 1, 2016.

Meena Agarwal is the secretary of the Commission. Other members are Vivek Rae, a retired IAS officer of 1978 batch and Rathin Roy, an economist.

The Seventh Pay Commission was appointed for 18 months, its terms was extended in August 2015 by four months till December 31, 2015.

The government constitutes the Pay Commission almost every 10 years to revise the pay scale of its employees and often these are adopted by states after some modifications.

As part of the exercise, the Commission holds discussions with various stakeholders, including organisations, federations, groups representing civil employees as well as Defence services.

The Sixth Pay Commission was implemented with effect from January 1, 2006, the fifth from January 1, 1996 and the fourth from January 1, 1986.